I’ve had an XT live for years now and always gone straight from the Left jack to a line input on our desk and not used a DI box, nor bothered running two jacks to the desk. The POD has always been set to Studio Direct.

Now I want to know how to maximise the PODs potential and get that sound you get in your headphones, but through the PA. So the questions are:

Should I use a DI box?

If so, does it need to be a stereo DI box running from the jacks into the DI and then XLR to desk?

Can I just run a jack from the Headphone socket to the DI, then XLR to the desk?

Is there anything else I need to setup on the POD to maximise the sound potential (ignoring EQ on my sounds or anything like that)?

it's always recommended to use balanced signal, then it depends on a couple of things like cable quality, cables length, also how much RF noise is in the environment you're running the cable through and it depends on how strong the signal is you're sending along that cable relative to the noise in the environment.

so it depends of your situation, which keeps changing in different gigs locations

The only way to know is to try it out. While I've used the XT Live on many gigs, I've only tried it direct once-the first time. It wasn't good and I haven't wanted to ever go through that again, so I go through my amp.

The problem is it's hard to get somewhere you can try these things out at volume. Sometimes you've got to tweek the settings and that takes time and if you're playing through a PA, your bandmates are probably waiting to start and it's going to be LOUD...ugh...it's not an ideal situation. So many options, all of which could make or break this great tone. Too much bass? Do I adjust the patch or the board?

We need people with experience in this to comment, maybe giving us a starting point. I'd love to play plugged into the PA, bypass the whole amp...

Come on, guys. Who can help us figure out how to use this tech live and loud?

When I used the XTL it was always left input into a DI box , and then XLR to the board. I used the right input into a local powered monitor as well. I did not use any stereo effects that would pan the sound, such as Ping-Pong delay.

Before I got my DT25, I ran my HD500 direct to the board from the left XLR, and the right 1/4" to a local powered monitor. Again, no stereo effects.

You'll still need to EQ at the PA, as the sound system, volume, and room acoustics will be very different from your headphones.